Jeff Ream Posted December 23, 2019 Share Posted December 23, 2019 On 12/21/2019 at 1:39 PM, camel lips said: When you got nothing,,you got nothing. i've been offline nursing a broken wrist so i didn't bother looking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted December 23, 2019 Share Posted December 23, 2019 13 hours ago, Year Fiver said: I know I am very very late to this party and I'm sorry if this was already addressed in one of the 80 pages of this thread I still have yet to comb through. But as a very partial answer to this specific question... at least up to a few years ago (unsure about the present), DCA corps were typically barred from recruiting at USBands functions, except for C2. Many DCI corps other than the Cadets were similarly barred. Recruiting is more than just a matter of showing up--explicit permission is required, and, well. There was a genuine interest within USBands at least to only promote YEA organizations, to the detriment of other NE corps. DCA as a body may be god awful at advertising, but individual DCA corps do try--they're just not always welcome. DCA corps in the NE were well represented at other cicruits shows Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xandandl Posted December 24, 2019 Share Posted December 24, 2019 (edited) 3 hours ago, Jeff Ream said: i've been offline nursing a broken wrist so i didn't bother looking I'll ask Santa to bring you a new one. Edited December 24, 2019 by xandandl 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted December 24, 2019 Share Posted December 24, 2019 3 hours ago, xandandl said: I'll ask Santa to bring you a new one. Dr. Dailey is giving me new parts Friday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted December 24, 2019 Share Posted December 24, 2019 10 hours ago, Jeff Ream said: Dr. Dailey is giving me new parts Friday. He’s in a good group. His partners put enough “replacement parts” in family members. Good luck buddy... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geno55441 Posted December 24, 2019 Share Posted December 24, 2019 On 12/9/2019 at 11:26 AM, Jeff Ream said: I dug this out because a respected DCA director posted on social media saying those worried about the future of DCA need not be, but no details or anything was posted, and the DCA website has no PR giving details...so does anyone know anything about the 13 remaining corps or any that may be trying to join ( or leave)? It might have already been posted but up here in Minnesota, MN Brass and Chops will be again going to Sound Sport and the Govies planning to return to DCA. The two major factors with Brass and Chops again going to Sound Sport is simply membership availability on Labor Day and Travel Costs. There are other factors involved but these two sealed the DCA fate for Chops and Brass. Speaking for Chops only right now, I can personally tell you it is demoralizing to a young corps to travel 20 hours to do one prelim show to a few judges, more instructors than fans, and a few people setting up their souvie booth only to be told that you failed and did not make finals -- plus you have to pay to watch the event the next day plus being excluded for the retreat. Being excluded in the retreat is not a positive experience to the membership and gives the members a feeling that they failed. Do you call the guy who finished 14th in the Olympic marathon a failure because he didn’t get a medal? He got to participate in the opening and closing ceremonies. I’ve heard comments that people don’t like to come and hear 35 member corps play – if that’s the case, don’t come to the show until you find a corps suitable to your liking. About small corps; yes, we work hard all summer like everybody else. We practice in the hot sun, the pouring rain, rehearsals in the middle of a winter blizzard. We get called out for missing dots, entrances, and step-offs. To me, that’s okay because Chops is a teaching corps. I don’t measure success with placement and awards – I measure success on how well my students progress, how much they enjoyed the summer, and how much they grow as musicians and students. Quoting Tom Cruise, “You don’t have to have stripes to have honor”. Just because we struggled with membership counts, a host of rookies who were just learning to play an instrument or never tossed a rifle, we can’t compete with the larger corps with 100+ members. We know we can’t and we don’t bother trying to. So what do we get for our teaching efforts is a penalty from DCA to be a spectator for finals and a bitter reminder that we are not good enough to play with the big boys. With Sound Sport, a corps of 40 members can again be competitive, relevant, and provide the same positive experience to the members that DCA did without punishing young and struggling corps. MN Brass and Chops finished 2nd and 4th last year in Sound Sport and both of our kids had a fantastic experience pus we saved both corps a ton of money on travel. Last summer, we performed to a packed arena with standing ovations and was competitive once again. My kids saw that there was a positive reward for their effort instead of being told they were too small, irrelevant, and basically to go home. My answer to the original question was if DCA will be around in 5 years is “probably”. As a drum corps who places our emphasis in music education to all skill set levels, DCA is simply not the right platform for us and I’m guessing the Brass would say the same thing too. I wish DCA well but I’m fairly confident that Brass and Chops will be headed down another path for the next several years since last year was a huge success story for us both. 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted December 26, 2019 Share Posted December 26, 2019 On 12/24/2019 at 9:05 AM, JimF-LowBari said: He’s in a good group. His partners put enough “replacement parts” in family members. Good luck buddy... thanks, he's worked on friends and family here too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted December 30, 2019 Share Posted December 30, 2019 On 12/23/2019 at 3:27 AM, Year Fiver said: I know I am very very late to this party and I'm sorry if this was already addressed in one of the 80 pages of this thread I still have yet to comb through. But as a very partial answer to this specific question... at least up to a few years ago (unsure about the present), DCA corps were typically barred from recruiting at USBands functions, except for C2. Many DCI corps other than the Cadets were similarly barred. Recruiting is more than just a matter of showing up--explicit permission is required, and, well. There was a genuine interest within USBands at least to only promote YEA organizations, to the detriment of other NE corps. DCA as a body may be god awful at advertising, but individual DCA corps do try--they're just not always welcome. The band I arranged for and taught was a USBands member, and I often saw DCA tents at shows. The Cabs often had a tent at the Piscataway show. I know I saw the Bushwackers at a few shows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted December 30, 2019 Share Posted December 30, 2019 15 hours ago, MikeD said: The band I arranged for and taught was a USBands member, and I often saw DCA tents at shows. The Cabs often had a tent at the Piscataway show. I know I saw the Bushwackers at a few shows. i believe only at championship events were other corps not allowed in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted December 30, 2019 Share Posted December 30, 2019 2 hours ago, Jeff Ream said: i believe only at championship events were other corps not allowed in I can see that happening, for sure. My memory is too vague on those shows to remember. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.